‘There’s been a couple of conversations’: Diversity’s Ashley Banjo teases potential project with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following BAFTA win
Ashley Banjo has revealed a future project with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may be in the works following his recent BAFTA win.
The Diversity star, 32, had a phone call with the royals following the dance troupe’s Black Lives Matter performance on Britain’s Got Talent in September.
Speaking on FUBAR Radio’s Access All Areas, Ashley coyly said: ‘I think the paths might cross at some point, I’m not sure how.
Exciting: Ashley Banjo has revealed a future project with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may be in the works
‘There’s been a couple of conversations, but, yeah. I’m hoping that our paths cross. That’s all I’m going to say. Keep it under wraps as they say.’
The 32-year-old clearly hit it off with the pair, joking that they ‘are buddies now,’ adding: ‘We’ve got loads of like loads of common ground, things that we just both relate on.’
Co-host Bobby Norris joked that their blossoming friendship could lead to some one-to-one dance lessons in the future, to which Ashley said: ‘Do you know what? I’ve heard that Harry can bust a move, so maybe. You just know he’s a party boy. You know he can get down.’
Ashley and the rest of Diversity were inundated with horrific abuse following Diversity’s BLM routine, which sparked over 25,000 complaints to Ofcom.
In good company: The Diversity star, 32, had a phone call with the royals following the dance troupe’s Black Lives Matter performance on Britain’s Got Talent in September
The dancer said the phone call from the royals was ‘much needed’ at the time as he was going through a ‘dark period’.
He said: ‘At the time the conversation was really needed. It was just one of many conversations I had that was like, got me through that sort of like really deep, like dark period.’
Discussing the struggles he felt at that time, Ashley said: ‘You feel like when you’re on socials that like so many people at you.
‘So every single message of positivity with people supporting made the difference between me thinking that the whole country was against Diversity to thinking that there was a majority of support.
Plans: Speaking on FUBAR Radio’s Access All Areas , Ashley coyly said: ‘I think the paths might cross at some point, I’m not sure how’
‘That was basically down to the phone calls and the messages and the comments from the people that were there. So I’m forever grateful for them.’
As well as his upcoming collaboration with the royals, Ashley confirmed another exciting project that will be coming out in the next few months: ‘Me and the rest of Diversity, we’ve done a film.
‘So basically, we worked for a company called Grenade, a sports nutrition brand. They’re amazing. And they basically supported us. So I directed a short dance movie, which is going to be coming out soon.’
Explaining what the film will be about, Ashley added: ‘It’s called The Recovery and it’s got like a superhero kind of vibe. Diversity play like a little unit of soldiers and we have to sort of like retrieve this object.
Shortlist: Diversity’s controversial Black Lives Matter routine on Britain’s Got Talent (pictured) sparked 24,000 complaints to media watchdog Ofcom
‘It’s really cool, really crazy. We’ve got planes, tanks, helicopters, gunfire, explosions. It’s like a proper little action film.’
When asked how he found being on the other side of the camera, he explained: ‘Yeah, I love it! I’m doing it all the time like whether it be through like creating the tours or putting together routines.
‘It always goes much deeper than just choreography. But it was nice to be able to like take that role and go, “Right, I’m going to create something different here. Something that is just really different for us.” And it’s definitely something I’m going to do more of.’
Ashley and Diversity won the Must See TV Moment of 2020 at this year’s BAFTA awards for their BLM performance.
Success: Ashley and Diversity won the Must See TV Moment of 2020 at this year’s BAFTA awards for their BLM performance (pictured with brother Jordan)
Recently explaining why he was so nervous heading into the awards, Ashley saidon KISS FM: ‘It was so much more than an award for all of us.
‘The public had a way to quantify their opinion negatively with the complaints but there wasn’t really a way to capture the positivity, to capture the love.’
He continued: ‘It was out there, we felt it, But last night weirdly it just felt like a way for the public to say something else. If we didn’t win it was incredible to be nominated, but that was down to the BAFTA board.
‘The win was down to the public. So if we win that, it’s how I’ll put a full stop behind this chapter for the rest of our lives.
‘It won’t be the complaints anymore it’ll be the BAFTA award-winning performance… I’m not going to remember it now cause of the negativity, I’m going to remember it cause we are BAFTA award-winners boy!’
Ashley said: ‘The win was down to the public. So if we win that, it’s how I’ll put a full stop behind this chapter for the rest of our lives’
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